Behind British Minister of Faith Sayeeda Warsi’s Resignation Over Gaza | TIME

2014/08/07 Leave a comment

Good article in Time about the dramatic resignation of Sayeeda Warsi, the former UK Minister of Faith, over the UK government’s approach to the crisis in Gaza.

Warsi, as the article and her frequent speeches and interventions, played a significant and positive role in the ongoing UK debates about Muslims, integration and radicalization:

At first glance, one might assume that this story is simply “Muslim minister resigns over U.K. support for Israel.” Warsi is, after all, the first Muslim to serve in so high a position, and soon after her resignation, she called for an immediate arms embargo against Israel in an interview with the Huffington Post UK.

But that’s almost certainly too simplistic an understanding of what happened. Warsi has built her professional career on a foundational principle that religious and historic divides do not necessitate irreconcilable divisions or violence. She made it her mission to help create a government that, as she often said, would “do God” and advocate for faith’s place in society. That meant working for people of all faiths. She spoke out against Islamophobia and worked to make sure British government was inclusive for Muslims. In 2012 she let the U.K.’s largest ministerial delegation to the Vatican. Last year she came to Washington, DC, to speak out against the global persecution of Christians. One of her main goals was to encourage the international community to develop a cross-faith, cross-continent commitment to protect Christian minorities. Religious persecution, she told me at the time, is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. “It is about working up the political will,” she said. “It is about getting some consensus, it is about politicians being prepared to take on these difficult challenges.”

Her personal faith story is also one that bridges divides often thought to be unbridgeable. She is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants and grew up in a Muslim family with a blended theological background that included both Shias and Sunnis. “We were taught to respect and love other faiths as much as we loved our own, and I suppose, you know, quite strong teachings that you can only truly be a Muslim if you also are Christian and Jewish before that, that actually Islam is just an extension of the other faiths and it has been a process where various books have been revealed at various times,” she told me. “I don’t see there is a collision course between people of faith, I actually do think it is instinctively based up on the same values.”

Her whole story is rooted in commitment to a higher calling. It makes her decision to resign is all the more dramatic, and it sends a strong statement that political will requires moral courage. “I always said that long after life in politics I must be able to live with myself for the decision I took or the decisions I supported,” she said in her resignation letter. “By staying in Government at this time I do not feel I can be sure of that.”

Behind British Minister of Faith Sayeeda Warsi’s Resignation Over Gaza | TIME.

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Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

A largely positive piece on Baroness Warsi, UK Minister for Faith in the Communities Department:

The peer herself doesn’t seem bothered by the brickbats. “Politics is a pretty ruthless place and it’s not the kind of place which you’d choose for a good work-life balance,” she tells me, with a shrug of her shoulders, during our chat at Lancaster House. “If you’re going to come into politics and try not to upset anybody, and stand on the sidelines, then you might as well go off and be an accountant. I came into politics to make a difference.”

Baroness Warsi Speaks Out On Islamophobia, Richard Dawkins, Bingo Posters And ‘Racist’ Ukip.

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UK: Baroness Warsi ‘saddened’ by rise in Islamic sectarianism

2014/02/21 Leave a comment

Good commentary by Baroness Warsi, UK Minister of Faith:

But she added she feared it was also politics masquerading as religion. “There’s a deeply disturbing political element to sectarianism when negative political forces exploit these differences,” she said. “And this approach takes on an even more sinister tone when sect is equated with nationality or loyalty to a particular country.”

Baroness Warsi, who was appointed the first Minister for Faith by the Coalition, revealed that she had been personally targeted by a gang who accused her of “not being a proper Muslim”. “They didn’t approve of me appearing in public without my face covered,” she said. “They reduced my faith to a list of ‘don’ts’, defined only in the negative, defining their faith in terms of what they were against, rather than what they stood for. I believe that this approach is at odds with the teachings of Islam.”

Baroness Warsi ‘saddened’ by rise in Islamic sectarianism – UK Politics – UK – The Independent.

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What Islam-bashers Can Learn From ‘The West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin | Mehdi Hasan

2014/01/09 Leave a comment

A funny by pertinent piece by Mehdi Hasan, citing Baroness Warsi’s use of the West Wing in response to UK Independence Party former leader Lord Pearson citing some of more extreme verses from the Quran:

In the show, President Jed Bartlet takes on a Christian evangelical radio presenter who had called homosexuality an “abomination”. “I don’t say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr President. The Bible does,” she replies, citing Leviticus 18:22. To which Bartlet responds:

“I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you here. I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7… What would a good price for her be? My chief of staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it OK to call the police? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?”

Makes the point that the issue is about fundamentalists and literalists, not religions per se.

What Islam-bashers Can Learn From ‘The West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin | Mehdi Hasan.

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The Right’s attitude to radical Islam is as bad as the Left’s » Spectator Blogs

2013/11/21 Leave a comment

A few pieces from the UK on Islam, starting with an opinion piece in The Spectator by Nick Cohen, noting how many on the right are weakening the voice of Muslim moderates:

Consider the title [Silent Conquest]. Muslims and by extension ex-Muslims are not a part of the West. They are outsiders, ‘silent conquerors’, who have sneaked in and torn up our rights. Nowhere can the filmmakers acknowledge that many Muslims, who have come to the West or indeed been born in the West, hope to enjoy the same rights as everyone else. More seriously, they display an ignorance of totalitarian movements, which would embarrass a first-year history student. They ought to know that, just as the first victims of communism were the Russian working class, which the Bolsheviks regimented and all but destroyed, and the first victims of Nazism were Hitler’s German opponents, so the first victims of radical Islam are the Muslims it claims to ‘own’. If they were to acknowledge that elementary truth, however, they would have to abandon their gratifyingly horrific story of a white West under attacks from dark barbarians, and that they will never do.

The right, or at least the most vocal part of it, are as willing as the most vocal elements on the liberal-left to ignore liberal Muslims and ex-Muslims. Like the left it is leaving them to fight unequal battles without help from mainstream society. As I said earlier, their behaviour is one of most glaring and depressing treacheries of our age.

The Right’s attitude to radical Islam is as bad as the Left’s » Spectator Blogs.

And UK Faith Minister Baroness Warsi being quoted in a Pakistani site, reiterating her standard message on Islam, and arguing strongly against the xenophobic views of UK Independence Party:

 “To be an adherent, one must also be a historian. This is a point that the late Benazir Bhutto, the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim country, once put particularly well when speaking of teachings in the Quran. She said: “In an age when no country, no system, no community gave women any rights, in a society where the birth of a baby girl was regarded as a curse, where women were considered chattel, Islam treated women as individuals.” …

“Deep, entrenched anti-Muslim bigotry goes against everything this great nation stands for,” she said. “I am concerned that the deeper Islamophobia seeps into our culture, the easier becomes the task of extremists recruiting.”

Sayeeda Warsi defends Islam in British parliament – thenews.com.pk

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This Ramadan we’ve shown Islam and Britishness are not incompatible | Sayeeda Warsi

2013/08/11 Leave a comment

Good piece by Baroness Warsi, Co-Chairman of the UK Conservative Party, and Minister for Faith and Communities, on integration of British Muslims in the broader community.

This Ramadan we’ve shown Islam and Britishness are not incompatible | Sayeeda Warsi | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

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Baroness Warsi: Fewer than one in four people believe Islam is compatible with British way of life – Home News – UK – The Independent

2013/03/03 Leave a comment

Baroness Warsi: Fewer than one in four people believe Islam is compatible with British way of life – Home News – UK – The Independent.

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